We have a number of food allergies in our family. On top of that, my husband and I have been vegetarians for over 40 years, our kids are lifelong vegetarians, and we have more than one family member with low thyroid (including me). So I’m very picky about what I cook or bake. These flourless peanut butter chocolate chip muffins work for all our family members’ diets! And they’re kid approved … my 2-year-old granddaughter, Zoey, loves them and helps make them!

I have a hard time keeping these in the house. I keep healthy muffins in the freezer at all times, where they’re available for my kids and kids-in-law to grab and heat up for a quick snack. This recipe is one of the all-time family favorites … one that I first learned about from my daughter-in-law, who was making them with Zoey.

These muffins are a great recipe to make with kids. They’re so simple that even young children can do almost all or all the work! Zoey has experience measuring, pouring, and stirring from previous practical life and baking activities as well as making playdough together. Zoey always wears the apron from the Montessori By Mom Helping Hands Toolbox when we bake. Of course, it helps that we use the Learning Tower so that Zoey can safely and comfortably reach everything.

I don’t use perfect judging standards for my baking … I just care that it’s relatively healthy and my family enjoys it. But it is hard to have this recipe go wrong. It’s always worked for me, even if a little one is helping.

How to Make Flourless, Gluten-Free, Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins

Because we have more than one family member with food allergies and low thyroid, I almost always bake gluten free. I also add oat bran to almost everything I bake since it helps reduce bad cholesterol (so I’ll be linking to gluten-free oat bran in the ingredients list).

I add protein powder to almost everything I bake, too. I started doing that as a mom of elite athletes, and I’ve continued to use it as part of my regular baking practices. My daughter-in-law doesn’t eat dairy and my husband and I eat dairy-free five days a week. So I use a vegan protein powder for baking. Whey protein also works great if you don’t mind dairy.

Ingredients:

2 eggs

1 cup peanut butter (or other nut butter). I use chunky peanut butter for extra texture, but either chunky or creamyis fine.

1/2 cup chocolate chips plus more for tops of muffins ( I often use dark chocolate chips, although semi-sweet chocolate chips work well, too. Some kids might not like the healthier dark chocolate. Zoey will eat either, so I typically go with the dark chocolate chips.)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375F and add 16 muffin cups to a muffin pan (or use a cooking spray to spray each cavity). Add first 4 ingredients to a mixing bowl and mix well. Add remaining ingredients except for chocolate chips and mix well again. (Use a blender if you prefer.) Pour batter into muffin pan, filling each cavity to 2/3 or 3/4 full. Bake for 10 minutes or until the tops of your muffins are set and an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool muffins in pan for 10 minutes. Freeze or store in an airtight container. These only take 15 minutes from start to finish (although the process takes longer when young children are involved … and is worth every extra minute)!

Placing the Muffin Cups in the Muffin Pans

Zoey always places the muffin cups in the muffin pans. This is something she did as a younger toddler, too.

Cracking the Eggs by Herself at Age 2

Zoey was proud that she cracked the eggs all by herself! (Note: I always add the eggs first in case any shells need to be fished out!)

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The activities shared on this blog require adult supervision at all times. You know which activities are appropriate for your children and/or the children under your care and are responsible for those children's safety.